Chesapeake Energy Lays Off Nearly 400 Employees

Oil and gas firm Chesapeake Energy today started laying off hundreds of workers, a cost-cutting move concentrated on employees at the company's Oklahoma City headquarters.

Chesapeake is laying off roughly 13 percent of its workforce — about 400 people — across the company. In an email to employees, CEO Doug Lawler said layoffs were needed to reduce debt, enhance profit and improve the company's cash flow.

Chesapeake has restructured in recent years, selling off subsidiaries, laying off workers and shedding roughly 25 percent of its wells to concentrate drilling in a smaller number of key oil and gas fields.

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The U.S. oil and gas industry was shocked last week week by the sudden death of one of its most influential executives. Aubrey McClendon was killed in a single-car crash, one day after being indicted on bid rigging and price fixing charges. He was the former CEO of Chesapeake Energy, a major producer now floundering under low oil and gas prices.

The Oklahoma company Chesapeake Energy’s stock value plummeted Monday. Over the past year, the stock is down more than 90 percent.

Chesapeake is the second-largest natural gas extractor in the U.S. and a major employer in Oklahoma. Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson talks with Brian Hardzinski of KGOU in Oklahoma City about how Chesapeake Energy’s struggles are affecting Oklahoma’s economy.

More than 500 Oklahoma employees of Chesapeake Energy are out of a job following the latest layoffs Sept. 29th, as oil prices stay below $50 a barrel. Gasoline is cheap, but that relief at the pump can fuel widespread worry about Oklahoma’s oil and gas-reliant economy.